WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: a collection of 30 pitch decks with links to use as a starting point for your startup pitch!

WHY IT MATTERS: this maturity may be overly simplistic but the plan is sound. Start with exploration, proof-of-concepts, prototypes, etc. Then move on the unification of processes to finalize with transformation!

WHY IT MATTERS: this short article from HBR provides trove of links for further reading on the subject that is on everybody's mind these days...

WHY IT MATTERS: this report is by far the best reference I found to understand the pricing strategy of software as a service and subscription services. Should be mandatory reading to anyone selling online today.

WHY IT MATTERS: customer journeys often are nothing more than nice illustrations of customer touchpoints and interactions. While true, this report shows that tools emerge to help understand the journey beyond simple mapping to include elements required to orchestrate and consolidate the data that is generated as part of the journey in different systems.

WHY IT MATTERS: a clever overview of the digital media world that highlights the importance of digital technology and in particular of unified customer data to break down silos. Very true indeed!

WHY IT MATTERS: many of my clients will select a digital platform to support their transformation - Adobe, Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, etc. Platforms sound than a collection of best of breed solutions that all evolve in different directions with much different timing - sometimes ending in an acquisition by a platform such as magento by Adobe or Hybris by SAP. They hope that by doing so they will de-risk their projects and surf on the coat tails of an integrated solution with a wise and aggressive roadmap. Unfortunately, betting on the wrong horse means years of stagnation and pain - ask any executive that has selected IBM websphere commerce platform for their horror stories. This article provide 4 key elements to look for in your platform selection to help determine if they have a long term future.

WHY IT MATTERS: holiday season starts with black friday / cyber monday. Companies need to prepare to get their logistics and delivery ready. Some useful insights in this shameless plug from Canada Post...!

WHY IT MATTERS: this is the annual presentation to level-set everyone on the Internet, mobile, ecommerce, cybersecurity, epayment, personalization, etc. She covers everything and shows that digital transformation is in full swing. Just WOW. Again.

WHY IT MATTERS: Google has been capturing and translating data for a very long time and by doing so it can provide digital services that way better than anything else their competitors can do. This example of maps is just one in many but this one is particularly well documented. Kudos.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

As I wrote recently in the "Pyramid of Digital Needs" (fmcs.digital/blog/pyramid-of-digital-needs/), security is one of the most basic needs. When we don't feel secure and private then it is difficult to enjoy the benefits of social networks and all the other tools that digital now provides. It is essential that corporations address security and privacy in a meaningful way in order for their clients, employees and partners to use their new digital tools and embrace the digital transformation that most enterprises have recently embarked on.

Also worth reading from Pew Research:

• Perceptions of privacy & security: http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/11/12/public-privacy-perceptions/
• Americans and cybersecurity: http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/01/26/americans-and-cybersecurity/ 
• Privacy & information sharing: http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/01/14/privacy-and-information-sharing/ 
• Privacy in the digital Age: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/06/03/privacy-in-the-digital-age/
• and many more on the Privacy and safety topic: http://www.pewinternet.org/topics/privacy-and-safety/ 

I wrote about this in the past numerous times and it is great to see HBR and others recognize this important trend: companies are sitting on huge amounts of information they can use to extract meaningful information and share it with their clients and employees to attract and retain them.

For example, look at jawbone and how they do it

• http://fmcs.digital/blog/what-one-million-people-sleep-patterns-tell-us/ 
• http://fmcs.digital/blog/proof-sleep-happiness-jawbone-analyzes-56m/
• http://fmcs.digital/blog/bedtime-stories-learning-from-sleep-data-from/ 
• http://fmcs.digital/blog/how-did-the-napa-earthquake-affect-sleep/ 

Mozilla has always been promoting Internet security and privacy and this new report paves the way for a very interesting ongoing look at key elements of the public Internet.

A study of 250K people over 2011-2015 timeframe across 33 countries in OECD shows that most users can barely operate their computer of mobile phone.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Digital transformation strategies and roadmap often fail to allocate sufficient effort/budget/time/resources to accompany employees and users with the proper change management. This study shows why: most people don't know how to perform simple computer tasks. Put them in front of a new software or technology and they will fail, or even worse, they will discredit the solution so as not to show their inability. Accompany them and recognize that they need help and they will succeed in their transition. And you will succeed in your digital transformation.

A review of recent investments in startups that build intelligent bots for messaging apps and other tools we interact with.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

With 50% of mobile users that have not downloaded an app in the previous month (http://fortune.com/2016/09/16/smartphone-users-apps/), the future of our interactions with our mobile devices will be concentrated - limited? - to a small number of high profile apps from the big names - Facebook, Google, Apple. How can companies compete? They will embed intelligent bots to listen and converse with their customers, employees and partners using intelligent bots. Soon you'll be ordering pizza by chatting with a dominos pizza bot or getting stock tips for an automated financial expert. Believe it.

http://mashable.com/2016/09/15/dominos-pizza-facebook-bot/#mouHyNNwIOq3 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-find-a-financial-adviser-1420516873 

218 slides of jammed packed information. Soon I will be able to blog one slide of this Mary Meeker State of the Internet annual presentation per day for the whole year. Wow...

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

This is an annual event for digital experts: the state of the Internet. This year, it focusses on deep learning (think voice+image recognition) and cars. Because really the Internet growth is slowing down. So is mobile phone usage. The trend thus appears to be what we build on top of the Internet and not the Internet itself. Finally.

Every company executive and board member should listen to this talk. Even if you don't understand everything you should ask yourself: how is our company positioned to address those trends? In most cases I assume the answer will be: we are not. This should be cause for concern and action.

For previous year presentations, go to http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-transformation-of-businesses/?q=meeker